Vehicle signal



April 15 1924.

H. L. WADSWORTH VEHICLE S IGNAL Filed April 24, 1919 :www

"Panarea-apr. 15,1924. i

vUNl'ran, STATES" 1,490,301 PATENT oFFlcE.

HOWARD L. WADSWORTH, Ol' cLEvELANnO'HIO.

vmncm SIGNAL. l l

yminimum med Apl ai, 191s. semi no. 292,864'.

To .all whom` it may concern.

-Be itknwn that I, HOWARD L. WAns- WORTH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and

a resident of Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, haveinvented a lnew and` useful Improvement in Vehicle Signals, of which thefollowing is a specification, the principle of the invention beingherein 'explained and the best mode in which I' have contem lated aplying that principle, so as to istinguis 1 it from other inventions.

f The present invention, relating, as indlcated, to signals forvehlcles, is partlcularly designed, for use in connection with motordrivenvehic-les as a convenient and simple means for signalling tofollowing vehicles any increase or decrease in vthespeed i' of. thevehicle. My improved signal re- 20 guirs no connections to any of theoperatlng parts of the vehicle except a singleconl nection to a 'sourceof current suppl and is Operated automatically and instant y uponany\-appreciable increase or decrease in the speedJ of, the vehicle. Tothe accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said mventlon,then, consists 'of the -means hereinafter full described andparticularly pointedV out in t 1e claim.

The annexed drawing' and the following description Vset forth in detailcertain mechanism embodying the invention, such disclosed meansconstituting, however, but one of various mechanical forms in which theprinciple of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawin Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showingthewindshield of. a vehicle with my improved'signal mounted thereon;Fig.k 2 is a transverse longitudinal section through the operating meansfor the signal, on the line 2 2, Fig. 3; Fig. 3 is a section on the lineFig. 2; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2', but showing a modificationof the invention andlFig. 5 is a diagram of the circuit connections.

In Fig. 1, there is shown somewhat diagrammatic the inside of the dashY1 of a motor vehicle upon which is mounted a 'frame'2of a windshield 3.Mounted upon one of the side members 2 of the frame is a bracket 4carrying two signals 5 and 6 of which the signal 5 may consist of anelectric light bulb mounted between red lenses 7, whl e the light 6consists of a similar bulb mounted between green lenses 8. It will beunderstood that this signal may be mounted at any convenient point onthe vehicle along the side, so that itV will show both from 'ahead andbehind, or on the back of. the vehicle.

, 'lhe signals 5 and 6 indicated 'in Fig. 5

as electric bulbs are connected in parallel by connections 9 and 10,respectively, to the main lines 11 .and 12 of an'electric circuit,

which in most cases will ordinarily be the electric circuit of thevehiclev and will be operated by the storage battery or generatorcarried thereon. Interposed 1n lines 9 and 10 is a suitable 'switchmechanism which constitutes means for automatically operating one or theother of the signal lights upon any increase or decrease in the speed ofthe vehicle. Thisswitch member is shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and consistsvof an insulating casing 13 with a removable cover plate 14. The casing13 is provided with a longitudinall extendin raceway 15 having each endslig ity lower t an the center 16. Each of the connections 9 and l0leads to contacts 17 and 18, respectively, which are projected partiallyacross the end of the raceway '15 in the casing at either end of thesame, while corresponding contacts or con nections 19 and 2O aresimilarly disposed on the other side of the casin and are connected asshown in Fig. 5. he casing 13 maybe mounted at any convenient point onthe vehicleand may be carried on'a brackt-L 21 attached to the dash ofthe vehicle, if desired, so that it is in a horizontal position in thenormal position of the car.-

Mounted to move inthe raceway 15 is a movable contact member in the formof a globule of mercury 22. This drop of mercury is freely movable fromend to end of the raceway and is actuated from one end to the otherkv bv an increase or decrease in the momentum of the vehicle. Thus. upon thestarting of the vehicle, the mercury will instantly move to the rear endof the raceway 15, when it `will make contact with the connections 17and 19 and close the circuit through the bulb 5, while upon a decreaseor stoppingof the vehicle, the mercury will pass to the forward end ofthe casing and make connection between the contacts 18 and 20. Theslight raise or hump in the center of the raceway is not sufiicient toprevent the passage of the mercury when there is acsr 'of the deviceintended for use on vehicles in rough or hilly country in which thecasing 13 is oated upon a mercury bath 24 which is in turn carried in anoutside case 25 bolted to the dash l of the vehicle by means of thebracket 21. In such a construction, the cas ing 13 and the racewaytherein are mounted in an exact horizontal position, irrespective of theinclination of the vehicle itself, so that the vehicles inclination doesnot aiect the proper o eration of the switch.

Other mo es of applying the principle of my invention may be .employedinstead of the one explained, change being made as regards the mechanismherein disclosed, provided the means stated by the following claim orthe equivalent of such stated means be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my inventionA momentum switch adapted to alternately open and close two distinctcircuits, comprising an insulating casing, a removable cover platetherefor, a horizontally extending raceway, formed centrally of saidcasing and having each end slightly lower than the center,` a paii'iofcontacts projecting across each end of said i'ziceway, each pairconstituting terminals ot two distinct v electrical circuits, and aglobule of mercury disposed within said raoeway andadapted'- to come torest at either end of said raceway and in contact with said respectiveterminals to close one of said circuits.

vSigned by me, this 21st day ot April, 40

HOWARD L. WADSWORTH.

